Reasons Why the Corn missioners Refused to Grant Licences to this Non-operating Authority MOO late for inclusion in our pre./ vious issue, the important news came in from Carlisle that the Northern Area Traffic Commissioners, after a five days' sitting, refused to grant Carlisle Corporation road service licences to permit that body, which is a non-operating authority, to run bus services in the city. The negotiations which the corporation has held with local bus companies in the past few months have been fully recorded in The Commercial Motor, and the position was an unusual one, calling for prudent handling by the Commissioners. They recommended the operating concerns in Carlisle to confer with the corporation,-with a view to submitting an agreed scheme in August.

In the course of the hearing it was submitted that the corporation could not acquire the tram services and then substitute buses, as when they stopped the trams they would lose the right to run buses.

Mr. W. Monckton,-K.C., on behalf of the railway companies, argued effectively against the scheme, stating that as the railways pay something like £10,000 in rates annually in the city they were interested in the way the corporation spent money. The chairman, Mr. H. Riches, said that the road WIIR free and that persons paying goodwill in respect of routes did so upon their own responsibility and took their chance when applying for public service vehicle licences.

The whole matter is one which the corporation has been conSidering for eight years. The city treasurer said, when questioned, that during that period he had taken no steps to ascer tam n what would be the cost of acquiring the tramways. He was asked if there was a genuine intention to maintain the tramway system, and replied that there was—until legal powers were obtained to abandon them. A meeting of the city council was held one day during the sitting of the Commissioners and a resolution was passed deciding to give an undertaking to operate the trams so long as legally necessary and to seek powers to run motorbuses after the scrapping of the tramway system.

Another item of news from this area is that an increase of 2s. 6d. per week in the wages of conductors employed by United; Automobile Services, Ltd., has been made, it being understood that the control exercised by the Commissioners has rendered this possible..